ChainCatcher news, Habibur Rahman, a resident of East Ham in London, denied the charges of operating an unlicensed cryptocurrency ATM business and laundering money through cryptocurrency transactions. Rahman appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges of running illegal machines without authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).Rahman is accused of exchanging £300,000 of illegal cash into cryptocurrency between April 1 and June 16, 2022. This was discovered after Kent Police searched a shop in Chatham on April 28, 2023, and seized several cryptocurrency ATM machines during the raid.The case has now been transferred to Maidstone Crown Court, with the next hearing scheduled for November 7. Police stated that Rahman's involvement in cryptocurrency trading not only violated financial regulations but also involved money laundering. He was granted bail after appearing in court and will await further developments in the coming weeks.

ChainCatcher news, the Mango DAO community failed to pass the proposal regarding "authorizing a payment of nearly $700,000 to the SEC to settle the charges." The proposal authorized the DAO to release the currently held funds of $669,684 and pay the SEC, which would satisfy the amount owed under the final judgment against the DAO, Blockworks, and Mango Labs.Previously, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accepted a settlement proposal jointly submitted by Mango DAO, Mango Labs, LLC, and the Blockworks Foundation, which was recorded by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 1, 2024.

ChainCatcher news, the U.S. Attorney's Office stated in a release that Indiana man Evan Light pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, and stole cryptocurrency worth over $37 million from nearly 600 victims.Court documents show that in February 2022, Light was involved in a cyber intrusion that targeted an investment holding company located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The documents also allege that Light was accused of stealing personal information, which he then used to steal assets from hundreds of victims.The statement said, "Under Light's control, the stolen cryptocurrency was subsequently transferred around the world, including to multiple mixing services and gambling websites, to conceal his identity and hide the virtual currency."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, New York City’s pro-cryptocurrency mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on corruption charges, becoming the first sitting mayor in New York's history to face charges while in office.The charges were brought after an investigation by the FBI in November 2023, which searched Adams' personal electronic devices, suspecting that he received illegal donations from the Turkish government in 2021.Eric Adams has been a long-time supporter of cryptocurrency, with his first three paychecks being in BTC and ETH, and he pledged to make New York "the center of the cryptocurrency industry" when he was elected mayor in 2021.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached a settlement regarding its charges against the DeFi platform Rari Capital. The SEC found that the company and its co-founders misled investors and did not register as brokers. The SEC stated that Rari Capital's co-founders Jai Bhavnani, Jack Lipstone, and David Lucid told investors that their managed Earn platform allowed investors to lend tokens to earn returns, which would "automatically and autonomously rebalance" their cryptocurrencies instead of doing it manually, but the company was sometimes unable to do so. The SEC also indicated that they were involved in "unregistered broker activities" related to the Fuse platform. The SEC noted that the two platforms held over $1 billion in crypto assets at their peak. Certain Earn platform investors were also eligible to receive Rari governance tokens, which the agency claimed were unregistered securities.As part of the settlement agreement, Rari Capital Infrastructure LLC, which acquired Rari Capital in 2022, agreed to cease future violations of securities laws, and Rari's co-founders agreed to pay fines and are banned from serving as executives and directors for five years. According to previous reports, the lending platform Fuse was hacked in May 2022, resulting in the theft of $80 million. Rari Capital subsequently halted new deposits and began to gradually shut down the Fuse platform.

ChainCatcher news, Hex and PulseChain founder Richard Schueler (also known as Richard Heard or Richard Heart) is currently under criminal investigation in Finland for serious tax evasion and assault charges.According to local Finnish media YLE, Finnish police suspect Schueler, who resides in Helsinki, of serious tax evasion and assault. Helsinki detective Harri Saaristola stated that Schueler is suspected of owing hundreds of millions of euros in taxes to Finland. Harri Saaristola explained that discrepancies between Schueler's tax returns and the revenue assessments from the tax office prompted the investigation.Authorities are currently unclear about his whereabouts. Finnish authorities estimate that Schueler's income for 2023 exceeds 15.2 million euros, but the tax evasion allegations are unrelated to his capital income. Finnish law enforcement believes that the cryptocurrency founder created, launched, and marketed his cryptocurrency in Finland, and that the marketing scope of these projects extends internationally.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against 3 individuals and 5 companies, accusing them of operating a "pig butchering" scam. Such scams gain the trust of victims through social media applications, luring them into investing in fake cryptocurrency platforms before absconding with their funds. This is the SEC's first enforcement action against this type of cryptocurrency scam. The SEC alleges that the NanoBit platform defrauded at least 18 investors of nearly $1 million through a fraudulent cryptocurrency ecosystem, while another platform, CoinW6, deceived at least 11 investors out of a total of $2.2 million. The SEC warns the public to be vigilant about investment opportunities promoted on social media.

ChainCatcher news, according to The New York Times, FTX founder SBF has officially appealed his fraud convictions, requesting a retrial and accusing the judge presiding over his case of unfair bias against him.In November last year, a New York jury found SBF guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency trading platform in November 2022. In March this year, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced SBF to 25 years in prison, of which he has already served six months.In a 102-page appeal submitted on Friday afternoon, SBF's lawyers argued that Judge Kaplan was unfair to the FTX founder throughout the trial, making "scathing remarks that undermined the defense" and "mocking" his testimony in front of the jury.

ChainCatcher news, a judge in Georgia has dismissed two criminal charges against former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Trump in the 2020 Georgia election interference case, as well as another charge against an ally of Trump.

ChainCatcher news, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams posted on X: "I rarely deal with projects that try to induce participation through forks. Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation do not charge fees for protocol deployments. Protocol deployments are conducted through governance voting, and we prioritize based on the activities and work required (for example, a new zk chain may require more work than a standard operational stack chain). We have put in a lot of effort to reduce the workload required for each chain."

ChainCatcher news, according to the Financial Times, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on September 10 that it has charged 45-year-old London resident Olumide Osunkoya with illegally operating multiple cryptocurrency ATMs that are not registered with the regulatory agency. The FCA revealed that the ATMs operated by Osunkoya processed £2.6 million worth of cryptocurrency transactions between December 2021 and September 2023, with these ATMs located in multiple sites.The FCA stated that Osunkoya was a director of Gidiplus Ltd, whose registration application was rejected by the regulatory agency in 2021. Subsequently, Osunkoya began conducting related activities independently.

ChainCatcher news, according to Caixin, on September 5 local time, Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stated in court that former President Trump’s defense attorney John Lauro claimed that Trump does not plead guilty to the charges in the amended indictment. Chutkan stated that she would consider issuing a summons for Trump.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that Geoffrey K. Auyeung, a resident of Newcastle, Washington, has been charged in connection with an alleged cryptocurrency money laundering scheme, facing "conspiracy to commit money laundering and nine counts of money laundering through concealment or expenditure."The DOJ stated that Auyeung, who was arrested on August 12, posed as a custodial agent for oil and gas investments to defraud investors, subsequently transferring client funds to accounts under his control. "Once the funds entered accounts controlled by Auyeung, the money would quickly be transferred to other accounts, moved overseas, or used to purchase cryptocurrencies such as BTC, USDT, USDC, and ETH through cryptocurrency exchanges like Gemini, Bitstamp, and Coinbase." Investigators from the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have traced $64 million flowing into 74 different bank accounts linked to Auyeung. The indictment seeks the forfeiture of approximately $2.3 million seized from Auyeung's bank accounts. "Millions converted into cryptocurrency from telecom fraud proceeds have been frozen and are awaiting seizure. HSI has identified 22 victims with total losses of $7.7 million. However, law enforcement believes there may be more victims," the DOJ noted.

ChainCatcher news, former FTX executive Ryan Salame has withdrawn his legal request to enforce a plea agreement or overturn a judgment. Salame previously claimed that prosecutors improperly obtained his plea and suggested he would stop the investigation into his partner Michelle Bond.After Bond was indicted, Salame decided to withdraw his request, allowing Bond to raise relevant issues in her own case. Bond has now been charged with four counts related to campaign finance violations, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison if convicted.

ChainCatcher news, according to AFP, after being detained by French investigators for nearly four days, Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been handed over to French judicial authorities who will decide on subsequent law enforcement measures. A Paris investigating judge will determine whether to bring charges against Pavel Durov, after which the French judiciary will decide whether to detain him or allow him to be released, as well as whether to impose judicial control or restrict his movements.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has been arrested in France and detained by agents of the French National Anti-Fraud Office. Durov was apprehended after arriving at Paris Bourget Airport, which is dedicated to private jets, with a woman and his bodyguard from Azerbaijan.Reports indicate that, according to preliminary investigations, the French agency OFMIN, which combats child sexual exploitation, issued a search warrant for him. It is said that Durov rarely travels in Europe, possibly to avoid being detained in this manner, as his arrest warrant is only valid on French territory.Durov may meet with an investigating judge on Saturday night and could be charged on Sunday with multiple offenses, including: terrorism, drug offenses, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, receiving stolen goods, and child pornography. An investigator from the French National Anti-Fraud Office stated, "Pavel Durov will ultimately be placed in pre-trial detention, that is certain. On Telegram, he has allowed countless crimes and offenses to be committed, and he has taken no measures to mitigate or cooperate."

ChainCatcher news, a Brazilian federal judge has ordered the dismissal of criminal charges against the late CEO of the Bitcoin Ponzi scheme Mirror Trading International (MTI), Johann Steynberg, after police investigations confirmed reports of his death.Steynberg's death certificate has been added to the case file. Following the disclosure of this news, some victims immediately defamed these claims. Some believe that Steynberg may have faked his death. At the time of his death, Steynberg's death certificate indicated that he suffered from acute respiratory failure.

ChainCatcher news, the SEC announced charges against Cynthia Petion and Eddy Petion, as well as their company NovaTech Ltd., accusing them of implementing a fraudulent scheme that raised over $650 million in crypto assets from more than 200,000 investors worldwide, including many investors from the Haitian-American community. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also charged Martin Zizi, Dapilinu Dunbar, James Corbett, Corrie Sampson, John Garofano, and Marsha Hadley with promoting NovaTech to investors.According to the SEC's charges, from 2019 to 2023, the Petions operated NovaTech as a multi-level marketing (MLM) and crypto asset investment project. They claimed that NovaTech would invest investors' funds in crypto assets and the foreign exchange market to entice investors. Cynthia Petion assured investors that their investments would be safe and promised, "In this project, you can profit from day one because you can get this money back again."In reality, NovaTech used most of the investors' funds to pay existing investors and to pay commissions to promoters, using only a small portion of investors' funds for trading. The complaints also allege that the Petions misappropriated millions of dollars in investor assets. The complaint states that when NovaTech eventually collapsed, most investors were unable to withdraw their investments, resulting in significant losses.

According to ChainCatcher news, as reported by Decrypt, the centralized exchange Crypto.com mistakenly refunded a man $6.8 million (approximately AUD 10.47 million) three years ago, which the man withdrew and squandered. Three years later, the man and his partner pleaded guilty to the theft charges. The couple's lawyer argued that the severity of their misconduct was unclear, but they will still face sentencing later this month.